Thesis Statement: Today, African American women wear their hair in many different ways: they relax it, they straighten it, they wear weaves and they wear their hair natural. The eurocentric standard of beauty–the standard that fairer and lighter skin is better and straighter hair is more beautiful–affects African American women’s self-esteem and causes them to change their appearance in order to fit in with the norm. Many African American women are slowly transitioning to their natural hair and through this process, they are publicizing the negative effects that eurocentric standards of beauty have on the  African American female community.